Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Meet : Bollywood Superstar, Activist, and Junk Foodie Priyanka Chopra

Photo: Priyanka Chopra

Priyanka Chopra can’t easily be summed up in a sentence. The former Miss World (she won the title in 2000) is a Bollywood star, recording artist, model (in December 2013 she became the first Indian GUESS girl), humanitarian (she’s a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador), and activist (she promotes the education of girls in India through her namesake charity, The Priyanka Chopra Foundation). All that in one person? Sounds like Chopra, or PC as her friends call her, would have to be superhuman to pull it all off. Only she isn’t. Like us, she struggles to get enough sleep, worries too much, and can’t resist her junk food cravings.

How do we know? Because she told us. And every month on ELLE.com, in a new column, “Pret-a-Priyanka,” Chopra will open up about her life, struggles, and her guilty pleasures. But first, an introduction from PC herself.

It’s day 22/episode 10 of the ‘Priyanka Only Needs 3 Hours of Sleep a Day to Still Be Fabulous’ show. I think it’s going really well, but the people around me don’t agree. Strange, right?

It’s not a deliberate attempt to get no sleep, but more a spillover of my intense desire to do everything that excites and inspires me (which is currently many, many things). Life is sometimes about making compromises, and in this case sleep seems to be mine!

Just before I left LA last week, I got the call giving me the official thumbs up to contribute my thoughts to ELLE.com and it sent me into a momentary panic attack. I think the fear came from the fact that we don’t know each other yet. I worried that my ramblings might make me sound like an extra from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Those who know me understand my idiosyncrasies, but we are strangers!

So…I thought that before I dive in and share my thoughts, emotions, and theories of relativity, I’d break the ice with a quick introduction of myself and let you in on a few secrets about me. Hopefully you will write back and do the same, and if I’m lucky enough we’ll be on our way to a fabulous friendship.

Photo: Instagram

Here, seven things that will help you get to know me. There’s no better place to start than this moment right now:

1. If I had it my way, my home would be a Winnebago…or even an Aerobago (yes, I just made that up)! Since I spend my time between Mumbai and the US, and also given the needs of my chosen profession, I am literally airborne most of the time. I absolutely love it though, and the thought of a long long flight (like the almost 20 hour flight from Mumbai to LA) makes me happy. Jet lag and I are friends.

Photo: Instagram

2. I am a little bit of this and a little bit of that—I grew up in India… went to middle school and high school in Queens, NY and Boston. Went back to India to become an aeronautical engineer, and in 2000, I won Miss World instead. I fell in love with Tupac and tacos and everything in between. Now I am a strange mix of both cultures.

3. I can eat anyone under the table, literally! Buffalo wings, pepperoni pizza, a double double cheeseburger (“animal style”), steak steak steak and more steak! God gave me a good metabolism and I feel it is my duty to feed it!

Photo: Instagram

4. I am a confident, ambitious woman of today. Woman being the operative word. I am a sucker for romance and all things girly. Shoes are my kryptonite. I don’t like stereotypes… and hate being put in a box.

Photo: Instagram

5. I’m daddy’s little girl and mama’s baby—I love my family and always want them around me. I have a huge one, both in India and the U.S., so anywhere I go, they’re not far behind!

6. I absolutely love, adore, and crave the spa! My team has been known to take alternate routes to avoid spas at all costs. It's that bad. Show me one and…

7. I like to read…and write—my room and library are currently overflowing. It’s a childhood habit that was fueled by parents who loved to read, too. Somewhere in my teens I started to write…poems, essays, and stories. I still do, but it’s all locked up… I’m too scared to share it with the world.

Friday, November 21, 2014

It’s strange to think that when Adolf Hitler was struggling to eke out a living as an artist in Vienna during 1913 and 1914, he was residing in the city at the same time as Joseph Stalin, Leon Trotsky and Josip Broz Tito. With this in mind, it’s not too difficult to imagine that Hitler and Stalin could have easily passed each other on the streets during their early morning walks. While Hitler painted, Stalin was in hiding as a wanted revolutionary, Trotsky was writing political tracts as editor of Pravda and Tito, the future dictator of Yugoslavia, was working as a chauffeur and part-time gigolo.

One of those paintings done by Adolf Hitler in Vienna is expected to make over $60,000 when it is sold at auction this Saturday. The picture is a 100-year-old watercolor by the future Nazi leader of Munich’s old city hall. According to Kathrin Weidler, director of the auctioneers Weidler who are handling the piece, the painting has raised considerable global interest because it is a signed work by the Nazi leader.

The painting is being sold by two elderly sisters whose father originally purchased it in 1916. The picture is being sold with its original bill of sale and a signed letter from Hitler’s adjutant, Albert Bormann, who was the brother of Hitler’s private secretary Martin Bormann.

Bidding is expected to start at around $5,000, but Ms. Weilder believes the painting will reach over $60,000 and perhaps even double this figure. However, she says the painting is of minimal artistic merit and is uncertain if bidders for the Führer’s artwork will attend the auction in person. Which raises the question, who would want to spend over $60k on for something on the level of a doctor’s office painting by such an evil man?

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Whether it’s battling black marlin, pinning down piranha or mooning for mahseer, an angling trip promises both holiday fun and local insight, along with scrumptious, fresh dinners if you are lucky. Here are some of the world's top fishing hotspots.

Cairns, Australia

Best for: Giant black marlin

Prime time: Early September to late December

Why go: On Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, anyone with a snorkelling mask can find Nemo. But it takes a tough cookie to land a legend. The giant black marlin is one of the most coveted catches on the planet. Weighing up to 750 kg and able to swim up to 130 km per hour, it has the ability to turn hardened game fishers (and, after several hours in battle, their wrists) to jelly. The stunning 250 km stretch between Cairns and Lizard Island is the best place on earth to hook one.

Rio Grande, Tierra del Fuego

Best for: Brown trout

Prime time: December to mid-April

Why go: The archipelago boasts the world’s best sea-run brown trout angling, boasting a population of some 70,000, and their minimum average weight is 4 kg. Being at the end of the earth, Tierra del Fuego can be hard to get to, but Rio Grande’s mammoth trout statue will let you know you’ve arrived. Remember, catch-and-release firmly applies despite the abundance of trout.

Pancheshwar, Uttaranchal

Best for: Mahseer

Prime time: March to May and October

Why go: In this remote location on the India-Nepal border, where the Kali and Saryu rivers converge, you’ll find crystal clear waters teeming with mahseer and promising an unforgettable fishing experience. The largest catch at this beat is 65 lbs.

Prince of Wales Island, Alaska

Best for: Salmon

Prime time: July and August

Why go: Silver salmon aren’t easy to catch because of their energetic high-speed runs and spectacular jumping ability, so they offer serious anglers quite a challenge. Motor mooching and trolling with conventional gear are the favoured techniques. Make sure you bring along clothing for any type of weather—it can be warm one hour and cool and rainy the next.

Kona, Hawaii

Best for: Blue Marlin

Prime time: May to October

Why go: When the waters off the lee coast of the largest island in the Pacific begin to warm in late April or early May, pelagic Pacific blue marlin arrive, joining the fish that reside here year-round. These blue marlin range in size from about 100 pounds to well over 1,000, and as many as eight blue marlin have been tagged and released by one angler in a single day of sport fishing off Kona. In the same waters, yellowfin tuna, black marlin, striped marlin, shortbill spearfish and other species are also available.

Eg-Uur River Basin, Mongolia

Best for: Taimen

Prime time: June to November

Why go: Think Mongolia, and the steppes are more likely to come to mind than streams. But this remote central Asian outpost is one of the last remaining havens for the world’s largest trout species—the taimen. A fierce, cannibalistic monster, taimen can grow up to 2 m and smash the scales at 90 kg, so they aren’t meant for the faint of heart or the feeble of arm. Catch-and-release policy is strictly enforced here.

Brainerd, USA

Best for: Ice-fishing

Prime time: January

Why go: Do you like to dig holes in ice and stare into them for a long time? Then the central Minnesota town of Brainerd is your dream destination. The annual Brainerd Jaycees Ice Fishing Extravaganza is the largest of its kind in the world, attracting more than 12,000 hopefuls keen on the cold and on hooking themselves a cool $150,000 worth of prizes. Organisers pre-drill 20,000 holes into the thankfully very well-frozen Gull Lake, from which (d)anglers pull up walleye, perch and bass.

Amazon Basin, Brazil

Best for: Piranha

Prime time: July to October

Why go: If you want bragging rights, this one is pretty unbeatable. Head to Manaus, the capital of the Brazilian state of Amazonia, and join one of the many tours that offer piranha fishing, and in some cases, eating. A hunk of meat lands them by the dozen but don’t forget to exercise caution in your excitement: Their razor teeth can cut through steel hooks as well as fingers.